


Priceless

by Laylah



Category: Baccano!, Loveless
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-14
Updated: 2009-11-14
Packaged: 2017-10-02 16:03:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laylah/pseuds/Laylah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dallas is seventeen when he comes home one night without ears and tail. Jeffrey snipes about it, one ear flicking smugly; Father yells. Eve pins her ears down and squeezes her eyes shut when Dallas yells back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Priceless

Dallas is seventeen when he comes home one night without ears and tail. Jeffrey snipes about it, one ear flicking smugly; Father yells. Eve pins her ears down and squeezes her eyes shut when Dallas yells back; in her mind's eye she can see his tail bottle-brushing the way it always does when he and Father quarrel. Ever since Mother, God rest her soul, succumbed to consumption, things haven't been right in the house. Eve tries her best, but she can't keep the peace on her own, when Father hasn't noticed she's growing up and Jeffrey thinks he should be allowed to take care of everything. And Dallas --

Supper is a tense, awkward affair that night. Apart from Father's terse reminders about elbows on the table, and the occasional lash of Jeffrey's tail, nobody says anything. Eve doesn't have much appetite, and excuses herself as quickly as politeness allows, fleeing up the grand staircase to her room. She changes into her nightgown and braids her hair for bed -- Samantha would be happy to help her with that, she's sure, but right now she doesn't want the company. It's unsettling, for Dallas to come home like that, even if Eve has only the vaguest idea what he must have done. Mother told her, when she was small, that it was a mark of losing one's innocence, and she should be a good girl and pray and not allow anyone to take liberties with her.

That doesn't help her feel any better about Dallas, though she has a hard time imagining anyone taking liberties with him. She curls up in bed, hugging her knees, her tail curled over her toes to keep them warm. Praying usually makes her feel better, but tonight her mind is wandering -- where has he been going? What could he have done? Does it really mean he's all those awful things Father said?

She sits bolt upright when she hears the doorknob rattle, her ears pricked forward. "Who's there?"

"Just me," Dallas whispers. There's still a light on in the hall, and his silhouette looks strange, without the points of his ears pricked up. It's almost scary; he's like a stranger without them.

"Come in," Eve says anyway. He's still her brother, even like this.

Dallas shuts the door behind him and doesn't turn the light on, just comes over to sit on the edge of her bed, so close Eve has to twitch her tail-tip out of the way. She must look upset, because he says, "Oh, little Eve, not you, too."

"I'm not mad," Eve says, and that's true. "It's only -- it's strange. You look so much older." She reaches up carefully to run her fingers through his hair, and her heart aches a little at the idea that she'll never stroke the velvet of his ears again and watch his eyes close in happiness just for her.

"Well, it does make me a grownup, doesn't it?" he says.

Eve blushes, and pulls her hand back. "Did it -- feel very strange?" she asks, before she can help herself. "Did it hurt?"

"Nah," Dallas says, with a crooked smile like there's more to it than that. "It's natural, right?" He slides a hand into her hair, and she'll have to re-do her braid when he leaves, but the way it feels when his thumb rubs the base of her ear -- "Even you'll give them up someday, won't you?" he says softly.

It's not very dignified for the lady of the house, but Eve makes a little mewling sound. She doesn't _want_ to give them up, doesn't want to lose this.

"No time soon, though, sweetie," Dallas reassures her. "No reason for you to hurry." He wraps his arms around her and presses a kiss to the top of her head, right in between her ears, but when she leans against his chest, he hisses.

"Dallas?" Eve says. "What's the matter?"

He pulls back. "I wanted to show you something," he says. "That's why I came to see you." He reaches for the buttons of his shirt.

Eve squeaks, and claps her hands over her mouth to muffle the sound. She might not know much about the details, but she's fairly sure that this is the sort of thing that leads to people's ears getting lost.

"Don't be scared, sweetie," Dallas says. "I'm not going to hurt you, promise. You know I'd never hurt my little Eve." He pulls his shirt open, and he doesn't have an undershirt on underneath it.

What he _does_ have is a word written across his chest, the letters ragged and uneven. Eve stares. It's the same word she has inscribed over her heart: Priceless.

"It was supposed to be Jeff, wasn't it?" he says quietly, fiercely. "I was just leftovers. You were going to be the pair. But he doesn't love you enough for that, Eve. He won't fight for you hard enough."

The questions tumble over themselves in her head, and Eve can't even choose which to ask first. How did he find out? Who did that to him? Will it actually work? "Are you hurt?" she says, because he flinched when she pressed close. She reaches out until she's almost touching her pair-name, written on his skin, and then doesn't quite have the nerve.

"I'm fine," Dallas says. "It was worth it." He says something else then, and she doesn't hear the word clearly but she knows what it is -- it's a spell name, and it works.

The air hums to life around them, shining silver, thin chains of light connecting them. Eve's hair stands on end, and she can feel her tail bristling. She's practiced with Jeffrey a few times, but it never felt like this.

"I'm going to fight for you, little Eve," Dallas says. "No matter who challenges us."


End file.
